Well….we survived moving.

We’re in the new house and I think all of our stuff made it safe and sound.

We had a lot of help along the way.

Moving day went in the typical fashion with a mad rush to move as many boxes, etc. as fast as possible.

We couldn’t have done it with out all the help.

It was a great reminder of how loved and lucky we are.

It was also a great reminder that sometimes the best way to show love is to pitch in and help.

To get all sweaty and gross together doing something that most of us wouldn’t choose to do if we had a choice.

Does someone in your life need you to jump in and help?

Is there an opportunity to serve that doesn’t sound that appealing, but would be great once you got started?

Thanks to all those that wished us well and those that pitched in.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/xGytDsqkQY8

Big day for the Davis family today. We’re selling the old house and moving into a new one.

This song came on “The Office” the other day and made me think about our upcoming move.

In particular this line – Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.

We are starting a new beginning.

It’s bitter sweet to see the end of what once was a new beginning, but we know that God has a plan for all the beginnings and endings of our lives.

And we’re doing our best to follow that plan. Wish us luck.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"For you have been called to live in freedom. Use your freedom to serve one another in love." – Galatians 5:13

The freedom that we celebrate on the 4th of July is really just an opportunity.

An opportunity to do something with our freedoms.

An opportunity to make the world better.

An opportunity to serve one another in love.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Got the email below a few days ago.

What a great story to show the importance of showing love and affection for those in our lives.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Transforming Love

“In all our distress and persecution we were encouraged. . .”

1 Thessalonians 3:7

When I (JCD) was thirteen, we adopted the most wonderful dog in the world. Penny, as we called him, was smart and obedient. He loved everybody, and everybody loved him. But when I went off to college and my parents moved, our family reluctantly decided to give Penny away to another family.

After a while, Penny decided that my father wasn’t coming back. The dog began to grieve. In fact, he seemed to give up on life, and before long, arthritis and other problems left him paralyzed. When my father heard about Penny’s sad state, he drove seven hundred miles to bring him home.

He found our dog curled up in a little ball, unable to move. But Penny’s tiny stub of a tail thrashed wildly when he saw his master. Remarkably, with the love and attention my parents began to shower on him, Penny recovered. Within two weeks of returning home, he was running and jumping. He lived eleven more years without another sign of arthritis!

This story about our family dog reminds me that if even a mutt needs love and encouragement to stay alive, then so does every human being on the face of the earth. We are social beings, designed to depend on God and each other.

Yet some of us are curled up in a pitiful little ball of discouragement. Every day we have the power to bring life by giving encouragement to others–or we can ignore their needs and think only of ourselves. The choice is ours.

They do not love that do not show their love. – William Shakespeare

Love is a verb – it requires action.

Each day is an opportunity to put this into practice.

We all desire love at a very basic level.

One of the best ways to be loved is to love others as we love ourselves.

Be mindful today of showing love to those around you.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/Kr0tTbTbmVA

This came on Pandora in the car the other day and I actually had the windows down and was listening to the radio and it confirmed that summertime is officially here for a while.

The 4th is next week.

People are on vacations.

Bugs are biting up my kids.

Find time for your favorite summer activities.

Make some space for a trip to the ice cream place.

Take the kids to the pool.

Go camping.

Sit inside in the air conditioning and complain about how hot it is….

Make it a great day.

Jake

"You may delay, but time will not." – Benjamin Franklin

Friendly reminder – the clock is ticking – get after it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. – Henry David Thoreau

What if it really was as simple as crafting more good days than bad?

What if a good life was really just a lifetime of higher quality days?

All we have is today.

The future is not promised, the past is gone.

Fashion yourself a high quality day today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Instead of one day….think day one.

Meaghan mentioned reading or hearing this somewhere, she probably just came up with it on her own but wanted to sound modest.

We are all good at putting off until tomorrow something we should be doing today.

We’re going to start that diet some day.

We’re going to come up with that budget some day.

We’re going to start exercising some day.

No time like the present though.

Just get started.

Take one small step….today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

There are times in the lives of most of us when we would have given all the world to be as we were but yesterday, though that yesterday had passed over us unappreciated and unenjoyed. – William Edward Hartpole Lecky

Gratitude is such a great place to start the week.

We have so much to be thankful for.

So much that if it were to be gone tomorrow, would be wished for with all our heart.

Don’t let today go by without being thankful for all the good in your life.

Make it a great day.

Jake